Rogue Forces

The protesters closed off Ipek Golu Avenue and blocked all of the main entrances to the Jandarma facility. The Jandarma responded quickly and with force. The academy outfitted all of the students in riot gear and surrounded the two main buildings, concentrating forces on the detention center in case the mob tried to rush the building and free Azzawi and other prisoners. Traffic was diverted around the protest site down Sumerbank and Ayak streets to other thoroughfares to avoid completely closing traffic to Van Airport.

The chaotic situation and the diversion of students, faculty, staff, and most of the security forces to the main avenue where the protesters were, made it all too easy to breach the facility from the southeast.

A dump truck drove through the outer and inner chain link service entrance gates on Sumerbank Street with ease, then sped past the weapons range and across the athletic fields. The handful of security guards gave chase and opened fire with automatic weapons, but nothing could stop it. The truck drove straight into the academy barracks building…

…where three thousand pounds of high explosives packed into the dump section detonated, destroying the three-story student barracks and heavily damaging the main academic building nearby.

STATE COMMUNICATIONS FACILITY, ÇANCAYA, ANKARA, TURKEY

A SHORT TIME LATER

“Today I am saddened to announce that I am instituting a state of emergency in the Republic of Turkey,” President Kurzat Hirsiz said. He read his statement from the state communications facility in Çancaya emotionlessly, woodenly, not even looking up from his paper. “This morning’s dastardly PKK attack on the regional Jandarma headquarters in Van, which resulted in at least twenty deaths and scores injured, forces me to respond with urgency.

“Effective immediately, local and provincial law enforcement departments will be augmented by regular and reserve military personnel,” he went on, still not looking up from his prepared statement. “They are there to assist in security operations only. This will free local and provincial police to make arrests and investigate crime.

“I must report that several threats by the PKK have been received via radio messages, coded classified ads in newspapers, and postings on the Internet, urging followers and sympathizers all around the world to rise up and strike at the Republic of Turkey. Our analysts have concluded that the messages are meant to activate sleeper cells throughout the region to begin concentrated attacks on government facilities all around the country.

“After the incident at Van, I am forced to take these threats seriously and respond in force. Therefore I am ordering the temporary shutdown of all government offices in Turkey, the establishment of a strict dusk-to-dawn curfew in all cities and towns, and mandatory one hundred percent individual and vehicle searches by security personnel.

“The next actions that I have ordered require the assistance and cooperation of the public at large. Because of the danger of unknowingly spreading terrorist instructions, I am asking that all newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and all private media outlets voluntarily cease publication of any advertisements, articles, or notices submitted by anyone who is not a reporter or editor of the publication, or where the source of the information is not verified or personally known. My intention is to avoid completely shutting down the media. It is essential that the availability of coded messages to sleeper cells be cut off completely, and my government will be contacting all outlets to ensure they understand the importance of their swift and thorough cooperation.

“Finally, I am asking that all of the Internet providers in the Republic of Turkey and those who provide service to Turkey voluntarily install and update filters and redirectors to block access to known and suspected terrorist Web sites and servers. This should not result in a massive denial of Internet services in Turkey. E-mail, commerce, and access to regular sites and services should continue normally—only those servers that are known to host terrorist or anti-government sites will be shut down. We will closely monitor all the Internet providers available to the people of Turkey to be sure access to legitimate sites is not affected.”